Wichita eagle., 1887-10-23
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LIFE OF A SURGEON.
a Terrible Operation-A Worried and
Exhausted Doctor-A Crisis.

A Terrible Operation-A Worried and
Exhausted Doctor-A Crisis.
have always maintained that it is
impossible for any man to be great sur
geon if he is destitute, even in a con-
siderable degree, Of the finer feelings of
our nature. l have often Lain awake for
hours the night before an important
operation, and suffered great mental dis
tress for days after it was over, until I
was certain that my patient was out of
danger. do not think that it is possible
for criminal to feel much worse the
night before his execution than q sur
geon, when he knows that upon his skill
and attention must depend the fate of
valuable citizen, husband, father, mother
or child. Surgery under such circum-
stances is a terrible taskmaster, feeding
like vulture upon a mans vitals. 1t is
surprising that any surgeon in large
practice should ever attain to respect
able old age, so great are the wear and
tear of mind and body.
The world has seen snany sad picture.
/ will draw one of the surgeon. 1t is
midday; the sun is bright and beautiful;
all nature is redolent of joy; men and
women crowd the street, arayed in their
best, and all apparently is peace and hap
piness within and without. In a large
house almost overhanging this street so
full of life and gayety lies upon couch
an emaciated figure, once one Of the
sweetest and loveliest Of her sex, n con-
iiding and affectionate wife and the
adored mother of numerous children, the
subject Of a frightful disease Of one Of
her limbs, or, it may be, of her jaw, if
not q still more important part Of her
body. In an adjoining room is the sur
geon, with his assistants, spreading out
his instruments and getting things in
readiness for the impending operation.
He assigns to each his appropriate place.
One administers chloroform; another
takes charge of the limb; one screws
down the tourniquet upon the principal
artery, and another holds himself in
readiness to follow the knife with his
sponge. The flaps are soon formed, the
bone severed, the vessels tied and the
huge wound approximated. The woman
is pale and Shastly, the pulse hardly per-
ceptible, the skin wet with clammy per-
SEPARATION, the voice husky, the sight in
distinct. Some one whispers in the ear
of the busy surgeon: The patient, I
fear, Is dying" Restoratives are admin
istered, the pulse gradually rises, and
after few hours Of hard work and ter
rible anxiety reaction occurs. The poor
woman was only faint from the Joint in
duence Of the anaesthetic, shock and loss |
of blood. An assistant, kind Of SEN
tinel, is placed as a guard over her, with |
instructions to watch her with the closest |
care and to send word the moment the |
slightest change for the worse is per- |
ceived.
The surgeon goes about his business,
visits other patients on the way, and at |
length, long after the usual hour, he sits |
down, worried and exhausted, to his cold |
and cOmfortless meal, with q mouth al |
most as dry and 4 voice as husky rs his |
patients. He eats mechanically, ex- |
changes hardly a word with any member
of his family, and sullenly retires to his
study, to prescribe for his patients-never
during ali this time, forgetting the poor
mutilated object he left a few hours ago.
He lis about to lie down to geta moments |
cepose after the severe toll of the day, |
when suddenly he hears a loud ring of the |
bell, and a servant, breathess with ex-
element, begs his immediate presence at |
the sick chamber with the exclamation, |
''They think Mrs. - is dying" He |
hurries TO the scene with rapid pace and |
anxious feeling. The stump is of GRIM
Son color, and the patient lies in q pro-
found swoon. An artery has suddenly
given way; the exhaustion is extreme;
cordials and stimulants are at once
brought into requisition; the dressings are
removed, and the recusant vessel is
promptly secured.
The vital current GIBBS and flows, re-
action is still more tardy than before, |
and it IS not until q late hour of the night /
that the surgeon, literally worn out in |
mind and body, retires to his home in
search of repose. Does he sleep? He /
tries, but he cannot close his eyes. His |
mind is with his patient; he hears every |
footstep upon the pavement under his |
window, and is in momentary expecta- |
ton OF the ringing of the night bell. He |
is disturbed by the widest fancies, he |
sees the most terrific objects, and as he |
rises early in the morning to hasten to his
patients chamber, he feels that he has |
been cheated of the rest of which he stood |
so much in need. Is this picture over
drawn? ] have sat for it a thousand |
times, and there IS not an educated, con-
scientious surgeon that will not certify tor
its accuracy.-From the Autobiography |
Of DIR. Gross.